The Ties that Bind
by Mystiqbard
Summary: The brother's have just saved a life but it seems their thanks is going to be having theirs taken away.
1. Chapter 1

_**The ties that bind**_

_A/n:_ _Quite obviously, none of the characters from the show Supernatural belong to me. I'll be loaning them out for the duration of this fic for the tidy sum of absolutely nothing, since the only point in my life in which I could buy rights to anything owned by WB would be sometime never. All feedback is welcomed and appreciated (this includes constructive criticism.) _

_Thank you folks, and enjoy_

* * *

The first sensation Lucas felt was pain. Not the pain that comes with aching muscles, pushed to the brink and back again. Not the pain that comes with a few minor bumps and bruises, a scrape here and there. This was the overbearing pain that accompanies weeks of sleepless days into nights with little to no hope of anything otherwise. Attack after attack from creatures that until recently he had believed were solely the works of drugged up guys in leggings, smoking pot, or basking in the radiance of some opiate, back in the day. Muscles torn, bones fractured, a dislocated limb had graced him a week back. A burn too on his right leg, but that he'd received when he'd wiped off the road with the bike after falling asleep mid-ride. She'd almost killed him after that one. For an instant then he'd wondered whether he might have preferred the alternative. But that instant came and went, and he told himself it would never come again.

_'Shit.' _He took a deep breath and brought himself back to the moment. '_Where am I?'_ An abandoned apartment block that was seemed so close to collapsing, it was a wonder it hadn't. _Noelle. _He lifted his head from the ground, as much as he could in this first attempt, and blew out the good teaspoon of sand and dust that had entered his mouth, no doubt from his being knocked out in the attack. Gritting his teeth, he managed to sit up and convince himself that all the aches and pains in his body were nothing more than injuries from a volleyball game. Except instead of the net, the ball and the hot chicks, there was a demon, guns and blades, well, and one hot chick. '_I have to find her.' _

He got to his feet, looking down through the hole in the floor and finding a trail two floors down. Shafts of golden sunlight streamed through broken windows and bullet holes in the walls, falling onto a forgotten and abused shell of what once held husbands and wives. Children passing the time with the newest card games usually involving witches, wizards and all kinds of supernatural creatures, the likes of which had been the cause of this less than great road trip. He moved slowly, listening out for any sounds of her. Nothing. Was it good or bad? He didn't know. Auburn hair was coated in dust, added to that the rest of his shredded ensemble. He pulled apart a piece of the old wooden banister to his left, and swung it like a baseball bat first, then a club.

* * *

Noelle fell back against the crumbling wall. Her hand gripped at her shoulder, trying to stop the crimson liquid that had turned her chocolate skin red. For the first time in a long time, she felt unsure of whether she would truly make it out of this one. She'd been separated from Lucas, and he'd managed to take one of the bastards out before disappearing over the railing and to the floor below. Her heart had sunk at the sight, wondering if he had even survived the plummet. But as it always seemed to be, time didn't allow for the heart to weep and she had used the precious moments of distraction to make an escape to the outside and hopefully a better stand against the last creature.

Heavy steps and razor sharp claws sounded against the cracked tiles. Day was fast turning to night, and the once brilliant sunshine was little more than a dim glow. She needed to chance it and make a run for the large double doors that would be the entrance to the building. They were in front of her, dead ahead. But with the speed that the creatures possessed, she couldn't know if she'd make it before her back was mauled to oblivion. Noelle brought her hand to her stomach. No way this kind of life was healthy for the body, and she could feel it taking it's toll. All gut wrenching fear aside: _'I have to try.' _The steps were slowly getting closer, inching from right at the back of the floor down the long corridor. No doubt it smelt her, knew exactly where she was. She looked to the shotgun in her lap; too heavy for her to use with her left, and her shoulder wouldn't move for shit in the state it was in on the right. She only had one hope in hell left now, and she silently prayed he would be there for her outside.

She closed her eyes for a moment, and in one fluid movement, grabbed her shot gun from her lap and bolted for the doors.

* * *

"I told you so... seriously." Sam said, tapping his fingers against the Impala's car door as the sped along the road.

"So what, you wanna a badge for that, boy scout? Hey, hey, watch the paint." Dean added, in reference to his brother's ring as it clinked against the metal. A little hunting always went a good way towards clearing their minds. This case was no exception, but perhaps the demon's involved were.

Sam lifted his arm from the door and ran an annoyed hand through his hair. "Alright, let's just kill whatever it is we have to kill and sort this out afterwards."

"Or how about we just kill what we have to kill and leave it at that?" Dean spat. "We're done talking about this."

"Hey you don't get to..." Sam couldn't finish his sentence before Dean slammed the brakes and the car skidded on the gravel drive. "What is it?"

"I saw something." He grabbed his gun from the dashboard and holstered it as he got out of the car. "I think the demon's holed up here." He said, keeping his voice down while he looked around to the other buildings.

There wasn't much around them. Obviously the beginnings of what was becoming more industrial area than commercial. The building they now stood in front of seemed to have been perhaps an apartment block or something of the sort. Sam took particular notice of the metallic red bike and forest green pick up truck parked out front. Both appeared looked after, and hardly belonging to the dilapidated building behind. "These look familiar to you?"

"Yeah." The brothers looked around, aware that the silence in the air carried a bad feeling with it. "Do you hear that?" Dean pulled out his automatic, turning to his right and pointing it out into the darkness.

Sam followed suit. Movement could be heard from inside the building, and Sam and Dean stepped tentatively toward the large wooden double doors that must once have looked majestic. They aimed at the doors, suddenly forced to split focus as the heavy sounds of an animal dead set on them, came from behind. The next few moments seemed to play out over minutes more than seconds. Dean was ready to fire when a woman emerged from the thick black soup that was the entrance way of the building. A hell beast emerged from behind, about to land on her from it's vantage point in the air. He moved his aim up, but she lunged at him, pulling his gun to one side and pulling him down to the ground and out of the way

"Dean!" Sam spun, ready to pull the trigger at the powerful black dog that leapt into the air from behind them, but hesitated as he realized it was jumping straight between he and Dean, eyes focused ahead. The beast and the dog slammed into each other, over 300lbs of muscle combined and vying for blood.

"Use this!" The woman shouted, racked with pain but still managing to force the shotgun into Dean's hand.

Dean looked down at it, unable to miss the ripped, blood-soaked t-shirt, or the gapping teeth marks in her shoulder. "Are you a hunter?" He took the shotgun, looking back to Sam who was now getting to his feet. "Sammy!" The gun was thrown through the air and caught with practiced ease.

"Helix! Clear!" She shouted, trying to move Dean's body which was serving to shield her. Sam cocked the gun and took the shot, planting a bullet in the side of the hell beast's head.

Blood splatter was accompanied by a good few pieces of whatever matter is contained inside a hell beast's head. It was silent for a time. "Sammy! You alright?"

"I'm good."

Dean stood, looking around at the scene. "Nice shot."He congratulated, taking a few steps to his brother before stopping short and reaching for his gun.

"Who are you?" A man asked, a few meters off, gun pointed at Sam's head.

"I'm gonna go with: the guys that just saved your damn life." He said.

Sam looked over his brother's shoulder. "Dean." The black dog now stood between Dean and the woman, blood stained teeth on display as it pulled its lips back.

"Well, this could've gone better."

* * *

_To be continued..._


	2. Chapter 2

_**The ties that bind**_

_A/n:_ _Quite obviously, none of the characters from the show Supernatural belong to me. I'll be loaning them out for the duration of this fic for the tidy sum of absolutely nothing, since the only point in my life in which I could buy rights to anything owned by WB would be sometime never. All feedback is welcomed and appreciated (this includes constructive criticism.) _

_Thank you folks, and enjoy_

* * *

The motley crew would've looked strange, to put it mildly, to anyone who'd bothered to peek their heads over the fence to the patio of the motel. They'd gotten the introductions out of the way after about twenty minutes of shouting accusations of possible possession or just plain lunacy from each side. When it was decided that anymore blood loss might result in an early death for Noelle, everyone decided to call it quits and approach the situation from a more logical, perhaps less tense point of view. Sam took the wheel of her truck, finding it a welcomed change to not be criticized about his driving skills every thirty minutes or so. Dean took the lead in the Impala, Lucas followed on his motorcycle, eyes darting between both cars, still not more than twenty percent trust held for the brothers.

"You alright?" Sam asked, eyes drifting from the road, to Noelle, and back again.

She looked to her shoulder, and shot a look of utter disbelief at the question. "Er... no." She laughed, causing him to do the same.

"Well, yeah. Sorry, I'm just so used to asking my brother that way. You want me to pull over or do you think you can make it to the motel?"

Noelle nodded. "I can make it. This paper cut is nothing." She smiled, lifting her shoulder a bit and wincing in pain. "Well, I figured since you got that ball of understatement rolling." Her arm hung through the back window of the truck, stroking Helix's neck as he sat quietly, looking in. The truck rolled to a stop at the traffic lights, a 90s grunge rock hit playing softly from the radio. It was pleasant. Sam's eyes caught the dog's for a moment. "What's his story?" Noelle asked for him, noticing that he wanted to say something.

"He's a beautiful dog, if a little on the shit scary side." Sam chuckled.

"I found Helix when he was a puppy. I trained him as a hunter and a guard dog, wouldn't have been able to take him half the places we've been if I hadn't. He fancies himself as my bodyguard... and he most certainly is. Isn't that right, boy?" She rubbed his ear, inciting a nuzzle from him. "They reckon he's got a mix of Great Dane and mastiff, may be part Shepherd bred in. At any rate, I'm just glad he listens to me 'cause at 140lbs I've got little way of controlling him."

"I'm guessing Helix isn't big on people?"

"You'd be guessing right. But if he knows you, and he likes you, he's a big teddy bear."

"Sure." Sam said through gritted teeth, clearly unconvinced. He locked eyes with Helix again, and this time was the recipient of a deep growl. "A big, big, teddy bear."

"Alright," Dean started, placing a bottle of Canadian Club on the table and falling into his seat, "we're all cleaned up and settled in. Are we gonna try and make sense of what happened tonight, or are we just gonna hit the booze straight up?" The night air was cool, and they were all thankful for that. They were lucky to find a good motel with a great deck nearby, since nobody was in the mood to go searching for rates.

"Don't see why we can't do both." Lucas threw a bottle of MGD to each brother.

"So, are you hunters?" Dean asked, savouring the ice cold liquid as it went down his throat.

Lucas shook his head. "I was. I'm not anymore." He ran a hand through Noelle's hair, admiring her as he sat perched on the table with a foot on her seat.

"Yeah? Decided it was time to take care of your sister?" Lucas and Noelle looked at Dean, surprised at his statement. "Oh, wow, I'm sorry, you're not siblings?" Sam rolled his eyes, wondering why Dean had to pull his crap every time. "Just seemed to make more sense." Dean took another swig of beer.

"Aside from the complete lack of family resemblance?" Lucas shot.

With a smirk: "You're right, she's far too pretty."

"You said you were a hunter. Why'd you stop?" Sam interjected, hoping to put an end to what would no doubt escalate into another one of his brother's Alpha-male-type-pissing-contests.

"Noelle. I'd been tracking three demons for about a month, the trail ended at her. We spent time together, and I realised I wanted to stop hunting and see where things would go." He grabbed the Club from the table and poured a shot into one of the dinky motel provided glasses Sam had brought out. "I hoped that once I'd stopped chasing, they would leave us alone, but seems that isn't the case." He leant forward and kissed her forehead, a weeks worth of stubble against her skin. "I'm sorry baby." It was Dean's turn to roll his eyes, Sam kicking his leg under the table to get him to stop.

She smiled after the kiss. "Don't apologize Luc, it's not your fault."

"Those were Ryksaar demons. Were they the ones you were chasing before you met each other?"

"Yeah, but we killed the sons o' bitches I was after. These must be family, or part of a pack."

As the night grew longer, the whiskey became less, as did the beer. By the end of it Lucas and Dean had become best friends... at least for that night. Sam hadn't had too much to drink, a light buzz would be the best to describe his state. As he watched Noelle, he couldn't help but feel her seemingly serene almond eyes held something more behind them. A kind of deep pensiveness that Lucas was void of. He wondered if it was just the look of a person coming to grips with the fact that demons and creatures that go bump in the night, are actually real, and determined to make a fine minced meat out of them. Maybe.

"Seriously," Dean mumbled, face half buried in his pillow, "she's wasted on him. The guy's an asshole."

Sam smirked. "You only say that because the two of you are so similar you clash. Or didn't you notice?" His voice seemed distant as he inspected the information on his computer screen.

"Shut up Sammy." That would be all Dean managed to mutter before passing out, spread eagled, on his bed.

Sam would've done the same if not for the small fact about the Ryksaar that tickled the back of his mind. "Tracking demons." He whispered. Six of them from Lucas' account. The first three he'd been after before meeting Noelle, and now the most recent. What could they possibly be after? What or who? He could guess that the reason Noelle had remained so silent, and pensive, was because she knew the answer to that, but for some reason chose to hide it, even from Lucas. He looked over to Dean's bed: he wasn't going to be up and about anytime soon. Sam took his room key and made his way out.

* * *

Long, lean, legs crossed at the ankle, worn track shorts and a simple tank T... barring the increasingly blood-soaked bandages over Noelle's shoulder and arm and enough healing cuts and gashes to make her look like a human rag doll, she would've been cover girl worthy. She lay beside the pool, facing the stars and dipping a few fingers into the water. Helix stood on the other side of the pool, he'd been on edge for the past week or so, something she didn't like. A low growl came from him, slowly moving along the edge of the pool. Noelle's attention perked, and a sudden chill came over her. Helix was too far and she was unarmed. Dreading what she might next face, she turned her head to the right and laughed, an awkward laugh filled with relief. "Jesus fucking Christ," she gasped, bringing her hand to her forehead, "you nearly gave me a fucking heart attack." She let her wrist rest over her eyes.

"You alright?" Sam asked, noticing her tension.

"Sam, you really need to stop asking me that." She half laughed, obviously trying to calm her heart by breathing deeply.

He bit his lip. "Sorry." Her arm dropped to her side. "Mind if I join you?"

"Of course not. Plus there's a free show." She gestured up.

He lay down next to her, folded his arms behind his head and crossed his legs. The tiles were cold against his back but he quickly adjusted. "I'd like to say I know how you feel, being new to this whole demon thing, but I don't. Through all my life, it's been the one constant... hunting. Everything else..." He thought for some time, almost lost as he searched to complete the sentence. "Everything else is just temporary."

"I got a veil lifted from my eyes a couple of months ago. It's probably the worst thing that's ever happened to me. I've taken more hits and been in more scrapes than I have my entire life. My mind's always switched on, my heart beats a hundred miles a minute. I can't relax, I hardly eat, don't sleep and even if I can... the nightmares." She stopped. "It's like I've just been told the Boogeyman is real, and he's one of the nicer ones." They both chuckled. She tried to it up, wincing a little from the pain, then receiving a little help from Sam. She grabbed the bottle that had sat patiently by her ankles and took a swig, offering it to Sam after.

He debated it for a second then accepted. "Holy shit." He exclaimed, having had a pretty big swig.

"Unfortunately not." Noelle smiled.

He shook his head, trying in vain to get rid of the taste. "Where'd you get this from anyway, I thought we'd drunk all the booze?"

"Reception." She said simply. "The guy had three of these bottles to himself... guess that should've been a clue to stay away."

"No label either. Homemade?" Sam asked. She gave a nod in response. "Clue number two."

"Hey, it was free, stop busting my balls." Noelle snatched the bottle from his hand, sipping at it again. She looked up, some of the stars visible beyond all the smog. "It has to make you wonder, this world that you've been raised in. If all of these things, these creatures and beings, exist _here_, with us... What's out _there_?"

He smirked. "I'm a little busy figuring out what's in here at the moment." He said, rubbing his temples.

"Well, even though I don't sleep, I would like to spend some of my time in bed tonight. Could you help me up please?" Sam did as he was asked, both of them rubbing some of the dust from their legs and hands. "Luc's probably out cold and sprawled across the bed anyway, I'm gonna have to fight my way in."

He was surprised at how the description could exactly pass for Dean. "Meh, the amount of time you've been gone, out here, I doubt it. He's probably close to waking if not already."

"What, a hunter never sleeps?" She asked, putting on a deep and commanding voice.

Sam laughed. "As Justice League as that sounds, it's something like that. Maybe more like, a hunter is a light sleeper." She walked away, calling Helix, giving Sam a wave goodbye and continuing on. "Noelle." He called, making her turn. "Let us know before you guys carry on your way tomorrow. You know, just to say goodbye."

"Will do." She smiled. "Good night, Sam."

* * *

_To be continued..._


End file.
